TalkImg.com - Image hosting for BitcoinTalk

[nelson4lov]

Is there a minimum file size that's required to upload an image to the site?
I tried several times to upload these images (https://imgur.com/Vjda5tQ or https://imgur.com/c9s13tV); it always gives this error. Or were the images themselves the problem?


I tried using a different browser, in private mode, and even on a mobile device; the results are the same.
I can upload other images just fine.

I've had this issue for the past 2 weeks. Before that, it has always worked flawlessly. I don't know what changed, because the files are within the file size limits, yet it still errors out.



My current workaround is to send the screenshot or image to my mobile phone, upload it from there, and it doesn't error out on my phone. I tested this on both Brave and Google Chrome. Both browsers give the same error. In my experience, some images and screenshots still get uploaded, so I think it is dependent on the image.

[joker_josue]

My current workaround is to send the screenshot or image to my mobile phone, upload it from there, and it doesn't error out on my phone. I tested this on both Brave and Google Chrome. Both browsers give the same error. In my experience, some images and screenshots still get uploaded, so I think it is dependent on the image.

It should be noted that if the problem occurs only on a specific device, it is not a problem with the image, but rather with the device itself.

Have you tried clearing your browser cache/cookies? Have you checked if there are any add-ons, apps, or plugins in your browser that might be interfering with its proper functioning?

Either way, if you can give me more details, I can try to check.
Could you send me the image in question via Google Drive or OneDrive?

[DYING_S0UL]

Add another point here, you could also use the tools like shareX here you will need the API for set up the ShareX and for that you have to create an account. 

Added!

To be honest, while exploring this forum, I had to take screenshots hundreds of times and upload them manually to an image host site, then I copied and pasted the direct image link.
This is where ShareX and Postimages save me a lot of time, and I use these two tools continuously even now.

I remember shareX, it's still installed on my PC. If my memory serves me right it was joker_josue who suggested me this. Although I found this tool to be quite useful, I am still used to the old snip tool that windows provides. So, I use the snip and copy paste into talkimg method.

Now that you mention it, can this same thing be used for talkimg and shareX? If yes, why don't you make another guide! I personally don't trust the reliability of postimages (in the future). So, better to use a hosting that's intended/designed for the forum. 

[Crypto Library]

I remember shareX, it's still installed on my PC. If my memory serves me right it was joker_josue who suggested me this. Although I found this tool to be quite useful, I am still used to the old snip tool that windows provides. So, I use the snip and copy paste into talkimg method.

Now that you mention it, can this same thing be used for talkimg and shareX?

If I am not wrong, you didn't use this tools only for its typical setup procedure, I could also be wrong.
But for me, the procedure of ShareX tools seemed difficult to me and at the same time I did not know how to use its hotkeys properly, so I did not use it, and went for Postimage, whose software I downloaded, there is an advantage that we do not have to open an account or use API. I trust it because I have been using it for more than four years without any problem. But currently, it has been seen that many times its images are showing errors or old images show errors all the times.

If yes, why don't you make another guide! I personally don't trust the reliability of postimages (in the future). So, better to use a hosting that's intended/designed for the forum. 

Noted sir!
If I had seen your post earlier today, I would have created the tutorial today. Anyway, I will give an easy-to-understand tutorial on ShareX and TalkIMG a day later on Sunday.
However, you can easily set up an environment on ShareX using TalkIMG's API.

You can follow this tutorial here that RickDeckard made, and of course don't forget to copy the TryNinja codes.

[bitmover]

Is it possible to add a delete button just after image upload.??

As soon as you see the page with the image link, just go to the droplist and choose the link to delete the image.
Follow this link and the image will be deleted.

I have a suggestion.

Why don't you add a button to automatically delete it?

You can do something very simple like this.

Code:

<a href="https://talkimg.com/image/U0kVjl/delete/a1ad06a4">
  <button><span class="btn-icon fas fa-trash"></span>Delete Image</button>
</a>

Much more people would use it.

[LoyceV]

Delete Image

That looks good. If the Delete button only works for a short amount of time, this would be a good improvement.

[joker_josue]

Delete Image

That looks good. If the Delete button only works for a short amount of time, this would be a good improvement.

I wouldn't want to emphasize the deletion of images so much, because the probability of errors or deleting images that are already on the forum might increase.

Either way, I'll keep the idea noted down for future analysis.

[joker_josue]

 
 Statistics  September 2026____________________
This month I'm going to recount something that happened at the end of August, beginning of September. In the last days of August, TalkImg began to be flooded with hundreds of images per hour.

Initially, I didn't pay much attention, but the number kept increasing, which led me to start trying to understand what it could be. So, I started noticing what images were being uploaded. Almost all of them were images of forest or remote locations, with GPS coordinates indicated. First, I tried to understand if these images were actually being used on the forum. But there was no indication that they were being used.

Since the images had GPS coordinates, someone might have accidentally sent images that exposed their location. Therefore, I checked where the coordinates were pointing. They led to various regions of Russia. Given this, I went to the Russian community and asked if they had seen this type of image or if they knew what it could be. I quickly received a response indicating that drug traffickers might be using the service to share locations.

Given this suspicion, I investigated further by searching through the thousands of images that had already been uploaded to the platform. After verifying several hundred images, I ended up finding clear evidence that the images were linked to drug trafficking services, with photos of the drugs being sold and advertising banners.

With the issue resolved, the blocking and clearing process begins. I started by checking the IPs that were causing this surge in uploads. Once identified, I blocked them on the platform and in Cloudflare. So, before starting the cleaning process, I gathered some evidence and documented what happened, in case it's needed in the future. After that, I deleted over 30,000 images (+8GB) that had been uploaded over two or three days.

Next, I started analyzing what other settings I could apply to the server and the platform to minimize this type of issue in the future. To do this, I analyzed the server logs to understand how the bot was operating and then created mitigation rules, always seeking to ensure that it would not affect legitimate users. Stricter filters against flooding have been created, as well as some configuration adjustments in Cloudflare.

But things didn't stop there, which made it possible to assess whether the new settings were effective. A few hours after the cleanup, images associated with the same scheme reappeared. But the method was different; they were using new IPs, completely different from the previous logic. Because the limits on the number of images that could be sent in a flood were more restrictive, the bot was forced to change its IP address after sending half a dozen images.

So for another day or two, every 10 minutes (more or less), 3 or 4 more images linked to the bot would appear, via different IPs. As the hours passed, the cadence decreased. Until it finally ended. Then I ended up spending two days deleting these images as they kept popping up.

Here is an account of a recent event, showing how this type of service can be subject to abuse attempts. It demonstrates how, despite keeping the minimum possible records, they are sufficient to control these cases. I want to thank the Russian community here on the forum, who ended up helping in this process.


Here are the numbers for the month:

	Number of uploads in the month:  7 823 (-159 that in the last month)
	Total disk space in the month:  3.51GB (+0.4 that in the last month)
	Number of visits to the talkimg.com website in the month: 690 208*  Estimated number of times images were viewed on the forum in the month (hits): 5 964 459*  Bandwidth in the month: 1.04TB* *This data may not represent total/real numbers, because of Cloudflare.

Top 10 Images Viewed
The 10 images viewed (estimated) this month, which were uploaded in the previous month.

#01 1622 views

#02 1618 views

#03 1614 views

#04 1612 views

#05 1610 views

#06 1607 views

#07 1606 views

#08 1605 views

#09 1603 views

#10 1603 views

_{Info for:
Kavelj22 | dansus021 | DYING_S0UL | cygan | Porfirii | ovcijisir | Chilwell | JunaidAzizi | Peanutswar | zasad@ | GazetaBitcoin | mindrust
New statistical data from TalkImg has been published. You will be able to share it in the topic you translated. Thanks.}

[TryNinja]

This month I'm going to recount something that happened at the end of August, beginning of September. In the last days of August, TalkImg began to be flooded with hundreds of images per hour.

Initially, I didn't pay much attention, but the number kept increasing, which led me to start trying to understand what it could be. So, I started noticing what images were being uploaded. Almost all of them were images of forest or remote locations, with GPS coordinates indicated. First, I tried to understand if these images were actually being used on the forum. But there was no indication that they were being used.

Since the images had GPS coordinates, someone might have accidentally sent images that exposed their location. Therefore, I checked where the coordinates were pointing. They led to various regions of Russia. Given this, I went to the Russian community and asked if they had seen this type of image or if they knew what it could be. I quickly received a response indicating that drug traffickers might be using the service to share locations.

Given this suspicion, I investigated further by searching through the thousands of images that had already been uploaded to the platform. After verifying several hundred images, I ended up finding clear evidence that the images were linked to drug trafficking services, with photos of the drugs being sold and advertising banners.

The exact same thing happened to BitList's Image Upload.

Literally the same forest and remote location images with GPS coordinates from Russia, thousands of images.

[KingsDen]

. After that, I deleted over 30,000 images (+8GB) that had been uploaded over two or three days.

Wow, this is a high volume attack...Great you've handled it. But I am curious why they attacked so aggressively, assuming they were using the service just like every other daily users, you wouldn't have noticed.

I believe if authorities get involved in the future, the service will be vindicated. This is just bad players using a good tool

The exact same thing happened to BitList's Image Upload.

Literally the same forest and remote location images with GPS coordinates from Russia, thousands of images.

I am scared they haven't stopped. Since they've discovered these services, it may be that they are just re strategizing .

[GazetaBitcoin]

_{Info for:
Kavelj22 | dansus021 | DYING_S0UL | cygan | Porfirii | ovcijisir | Chilwell | JunaidAzizi | Peanutswar | zasad@ | GazetaBitcoin | mindrust
New statistical data from TalkImg has been published. You will be able to share it in the topic you translated. Thanks.}

Thanks once more for the heads-up, joker_josue

I just updated the Romanian translation. And, as usual, I also mentioned your update inside AOBT, for more visibility.

[ovcijisir]

~

Good job fighting off the attack. But I wonder what would be their motivation to send images of the forest with their GPS coordinates?
Too bad that you had to waste your time by manually deleting these images.

As for translation update I will make updates to Croatian translation today, maybe tomorrow. Thank you for keeping the service onlune despite those challenges.

[joker_josue]

The exact same thing happened to BitList's Image Upload.

Literally the same forest and remote location images with GPS coordinates from Russia, thousands of images.

Also at the end of August and beginning of September? Or was it before/after?
How many images do you receive before you manage to block them?

Wow, this is a high volume attack...Great you've handled it. But I am curious why they attacked so aggressively, assuming they were using the service just like every other daily users, you wouldn't have noticed.

The technique used was as if it were a normal user.
Basically, the bot sent images in the same way that other users send them. The difference is that it sends dozens per minute.

Good job fighting off the attack. But I wonder what would be their motivation to send images of the forest with their GPS coordinates?
Too bad that you had to waste your time by manually deleting these images.

These images serve to indicate the locations where the sold doses are stored. It was images that had arrows, and they recreated paths to follow.
Let's say it was a guide to locate where the sold product was hidden.

[Cricktor]

These images serve to indicate the locations where the sold doses are stored. It was images that had arrows, and they recreated paths to follow.
Let's say it was a guide to locate where the sold product was hidden.

But then I would expect that the images aren't shared publicly, because once someone figures out "how to read" the images, they can steal drugs, can't they?

I'm not sure if I understood everything properly. The images were uploaded in masses to Talkimg but not used to be displayed on Bitcointalk, correct?

I don't quite remember if I've ever expressed my opinion that I think it would be a good policy to serve uploaded images on Talkimg solely to Bitcointalk. Though, now that I think about it, this could mean that a normal user could've trouble to see images for which links are known to him, e.g. from Talkimg links gathered in a spreadsheet. Maybe there are techniques which I don't know much about how to achieve this and still prevent other "malicious" sites to abuse Talkimg as images host.

I like Talkimg as quite reliable image hoster for Bitcointalk and I would want that this stays so.

[ovcijisir]

~
These images serve to indicate the locations where the sold doses are stored. It was images that had arrows, and they recreated paths to follow.
Let's say it was a guide to locate where the sold product was hidden.

So if they uploaded 30,000 images I guess that they had 30,000 locations with hidden narcotics. Looks like some large scale operation. I wonder why they used service for Bitcointalk and not some server only they and customers can access...

Anyway I hope they won't cause any more trouble...

Edit. Croatian translation updated with new statistics

[joker_josue]

I'm not sure if I understood everything properly. The images were uploaded in masses to Talkimg but not used to be displayed on Bitcointalk, correct?

I don't quite remember if I've ever expressed my opinion that I think it would be a good policy to serve uploaded images on Talkimg solely to Bitcointalk. Though, now that I think about it, this could mean that a normal user could've trouble to see images for which links are known to him, e.g. from Talkimg links gathered in a spreadsheet. Maybe there are techniques which I don't know much about how to achieve this and still prevent other "malicious" sites to abuse Talkimg as images host.

I like Talkimg as quite reliable image hoster for Bitcointalk and I would want that this stays so.

One thing does not imply the other.

The service is configured so that websites other than Bitcointalk cannot load the images directly. But if you have the direct link to the image, you can access it normally. The link isn't blocked; what's blocked is its use by other websites.

So yes, you can create a list of TalkImg image links in a spreadsheet, and then access the images directly.
If you save this link https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/04/30/logo_v3_big15552fcf6c36af30.png you will always be able to access it, I can't stop you from doing so.

So if they uploaded 30,000 images I guess that they had 30,000 locations with hidden narcotics. Looks like some large scale operation. I wonder why they used service for Bitcointalk and not some server only they and customers can access...

Well, I really don't know what the operation was like, nor do I want to know.

But, as I can see, there weren't exactly 30,000 different locations. Each location had a set of 30 or 40 images, some perhaps fewer, that indicated almost step-by-step how to reach the hideouts.
My understanding was that whoever bought the "product" would then receive a link to the images, indicating step-by-step how to get there.

It looked like a highly professional and organized operation.


Why did they use TalkImg (and also BitList)? Does someone who is part of this organization know and use Bitcointalk? Or did they simply find these image hosting services and want to take advantage of them? These are questions I no longer know the answers to.

[Cricktor]

Even when one hideout needed 30-40 images (with GPS coordinates), it was still a lot of "geo caches".

How about creating some filter rules to mitigate such abuse, like:
If significant number of images are uploaded WITH gps coordinates (or other suspicious metadata)) within a short time period,
remove GPS metadata from images AND flag images for deletion, additionally deliver such images without GPS metadata and with maybe only 20kbits/s transfer speed (OK, just kidding, this could hurt your server too, as it had to keep sessions open for longer than needed; you get the gist).

[logfiles]

The exact same thing happened to BitList's Image Upload.

Literally the same forest and remote location images with GPS coordinates from Russia, thousands of images.

Now that can't be a coincidence. Something tells me that person or group of people who did this know the forum so well. it's not like talkimg or Bitlist image hosting tools are the kind of tools that have so much exposure to the outsiders like the way Imgur or imgbb. One would have to spend some weeks participating in the forum to know about the existence of those tools.

[joker_josue]

Even when one hideout needed 30-40 images (with GPS coordinates), it was still a lot of "geo caches".

How about creating some filter rules to mitigate such abuse, like:
If significant number of images are uploaded WITH gps coordinates (or other suspicious metadata)) within a short time period,
remove GPS metadata from images AND flag images for deletion, additionally deliver such images without GPS metadata and with maybe only 20kbits/s transfer speed (OK, just kidding, this could hurt your server too, as it had to keep sessions open for longer than needed; you get the gist).

The images had no metadata; TalkImg deletes all metadata when you upload the images. The coordinates were written directly on the image, not in the metadata.

There are programs that allow you to take photos and then add GPS data and other information to them, typically used for geo-coaching.

Therefore, all measures have already been taken to mitigate this type of attack.